RLA Pastor's blog

​It’s Saturday morning, September 26th, and I am sitting in the Springfield/Branson National Airport waiting for my flight that will take me back to SW Florida via Dallas. Each year, I fly back to my hometown to spend a week with my parents. It’s an annual pilgrimage I look forward to in the autumn months.

I have found that going back to places I’ve known and people I’ve loved for over half-a-century has a stabilizing effect. Having a firm foundation is important in an ever-changing world that seeks to uproot time-honored establishments. In response to those voices urging me to forsake my convictions and adapt to cultural evolutionary trends, I take an even stronger stance on “those things most surely believed among us” (Luke 1:1). In a world of unbelief, I choose to believe!

Yes, I believe in the Bible and in the God of the Bible. I believe that He, not the forces of nature, created the heavens and the earth. I believe that all life has its origin in God, the Giver of life. I believe the God of the Bible exists in the form of three divine persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Compelled by all-surpassing love, I believe that Jesus came to the earth He created, became one of us, lived among us, died for us, rose again, and is coming back again for us. I believe that Christ alone is the author of salvation. No one comes to the Father except through Him. I also believe that life has a divine purpose and once it is over all humanity will spend eternity either in heaven or hell.

My belief system is not based on supposition. It is based on the absolute truth of Scripture. I maintain a resolute belief system because of the existence of absolute truth. Jesus testified, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). While the world is in a state of constant change, absolute truth never changes. What was true for Abraham, Moses, David, and Paul is still true for us today.